Mars

[yesac519]

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!

 

 

 

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that

will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in

recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is

in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on

Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be

certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth

in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as

60,000 years before it happens again.

 

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when

Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and

will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in

the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9

and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest

75-power magnification

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

 

Mars will be easy to spot. At the

beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m.

 

 

 

and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

 

By the end of August when the two planets are

closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its

highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty

convenient to see something that no human being has

seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at

the beginning of August to see Mars grow

progressively brighter and brighter throughout the

month.

 

 

Share this with ALL your friends

 

 

 

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

[Justin Adams]

I saw this full moon last night, and it wasn't pretty. This fat chick across the street had her shade up and she was nekkid. She bent over and I saw Uranus.

 

Ok, so that was stupid. I'm tired and I need to get some sleep. Honestly, this does sound pretty cool. I'll have to read the reports on this, I haven't heard anything about it. Mars rocks. I love their candy bars.

 

Justin

[Sir Clinksalot]

^LOL

 

Kristi "looking forward to seeing this at the end of next month!" C.

[SharkTums]

Eh, I'll catch it the next time!

 

Elissa "always the optimist!" Alvey

[WalrusMan]

This isn't right. Actually the closest it has been for a long time and will be for a long time was some time last year, but this is another close encounter. Mars will look as big as the Moon in a telescope. Somewhere I saw an official NASA release debunking this E-Mail that's going around. It'll be bright and big, but you won't be able to see anything but a bright red pinprick.